Gisela Carbonell

Dr. Gisela Carbonell is Curator at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, at Rollins College in Winter Park Florida. Carbonell received her Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009), an M.A. in Art History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2002), and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras (1997). Prior to joining the team at the Cornell in 2018, Carbonell was Director of Curatorial Affairs at Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum. She was previously Associate Professor of Art History and Humanities at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, and a Curatorial Assistant at the Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois, where she discovered her passion for museum work in academic settings.

With a background in art history and political science, Carbonell is particularly interested in the intersections of art and politics in modern and contemporary art. Her recent publications include “Salvador Dalí, el automóvil y la cultura americana en la década de los cuarenta” in El impacto de la metrópolis: la experiencia americana en Lorca, Dalí y Buñuel, edited by José M. del Pino, published by Iberoamericana/Madrid, and Naples Collects co-authored with Frank Verpoorten. Her most recent projects include De La Torre Brothers: Rococolab, an exhibition of contemporary art in glass and mixed media, a new series of themed tours in Spanish, Arte y café con la curadora, and a reinstallation of the permanent collection galleries in a themed show titled The Place as Metaphor: Collection Conversations.

Carbonell is currently developing exhibitions and programming for the 2020-21 season and beyond, including a solo exhibition of the work of Marcus Jansen that examines the artist’s explorations of structures of power as well as an upcoming collaboration with For Freedoms in 2020. She is an active member of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program committee on campus, and engages with neighboring institutions by participating in panels, lecturing, and jurying exhibitions. Carbonell resides in Orlando with her 9-year old whippet, Paco.